JID — The Forever Story — Album Review
Hip-Hop | Rap
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
JID is a rap artist which I discovered back in the early part of 2021. Primarily due to his collaboration with Denzel Curry, I managed to enjoy the cluster of singles that he had put out around that time. Those included “Cludder”, “Ballads” (a track which featured Conway the Machine), and the aforementioned song with Denzel Curry, titled “Bruuuh”.
These singles showed me that JID was an incredibly skilled lyricist; someone who shines as a protoje to Kendrick Lamar in a way. This idea I had of him was only strengthened by another single named “Skegee”, which in my mind still stands as one of his best songs to date (and of course, one of the most Kendrick-like).
With all this hype surrounding the artist, from not just myself but seemingly a large amount of other listeners, I could probably speak for everyone when saying that an album release in 2021 would have made that year a great deal better. And while that wish unfortunately wasn’t answered last year, it thankfully was this year, made true by the release of The Forever Story; JID’s third studio album.
After doing a little bit of digging, I found that this album is likely a sequel project of sorts to JID’s debut album, titled The Never Story. On top of that, it was likely released to serve as a musical victory lap, reflecting JID’s rise out of the hood, and celebrating his heightening success.
It was clear that JID wanted to start his newest album with a clean slate in 2022, which is probably my only real gripe with the album whatsoever. I would’ve absolutely loved the four aforementioned tracks to make it onto an album. But hey, there’s always room for them on a deluxe edition.
Besides which, JID began teasing this album brilliantly, with the release of “Surround Sound”, a track which featured 21 Savage, Baby Tate, and a killer beat switch. Easily one of my favourite rap tunes of the year so far, it was a massively good way to kick off the album cycle for The Forever Story. And aside from “Dance Now”, a track that was released very shortly towards the release of the album as a whole, The Forever Story remained almost a completely fresh experience.
JID is no real stranger to beat switches, and it’s safe to say that this album is rife with them. And to boot, JID comes with all of the grittiness and brilliant flows that had made his past projects so enjoyable. But with the creative freedom that an album gives an artist, JID uses this opportunity to weave his qualities into an expansive narrative; one that reflects the upbringing of the artist in an engaging way.
And despite being a fresh experience, The Forever Story has a great deal of content to sink your teeth into. With 15 songs, and a runtime of almost an hour, it’s satisfying to see that JID can bring us such a beefy album in such a short space of time. However, this doesn’t come without a few tracks here or there that I wish could’ve been replaced by some of his 2021 bangers.
For the mist part though, The Forever Story is definitely amongst some of the finest hip-hop records I have listened to this year, and will surely be a pivotal part of the artist’s discography.
Favourite Tracks: Dance Now | Surround Sound | Money
Least Favourite Track: Can’t Make U Change
Dreamville | Interscope
